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Kadri family initiates into sports goods with newly launched ‘Sports Centre’

After successfully venturing into computer and mobile accessories, the first-generation business family of Kadris have now initiated into sports goods and their newly opened ‘Sports Centre’ at St Inez

| SEPTEMBER 23, 2019, 02:19 AM IST

BHARATI PAWASKAR  


Coming from the house of Kadris that rose from scratch and rose as one of the largest chain of computer and mobile accessory outlets across Goa, the first generation businessmen from the family have now initiated into sports goods with their newly opened ‘Sports Centre’ in Panaji. It may be one of the over three dozen sports stores across Goa, but it boasts to be the first of its kind that displays numerous kinds of trophies in bronze, brass, steel and wood in all sizes, ranging from 5” to 80” with prices per piece beginning from Rs 80 on the lower end to 20,000 on the higher end. “Ours is the biggest trophy mall of Goa,” claims the owner, Mukhtar Kadri, himself a sports lover and a cricket player for the state of Goa. “I have been playing cricket for Goa for the past 23 years, claims 42-year-old Mukhtar, who lends the credit of being in the team due to his craze for fitness. Representing Goa in the matches played in and outside the state, across many Indian states and in countries like Sri Lanka and UAE, Mukhtar stresses that fitness is important – running, jogging on the beach and light exercises is a must to maintain fitness for daily life as well as sports.  

With supportive parents, Mukhtar could excel in sports in his school and college days, and the birth of ‘Sports Centre’ as a business, is his expression of this love and gratitude for all sports. “I have kept the prices reasonable, with a minimal profit margin, because I sincerely wish that people should come forward and nurture their hobbies in sports. Children must step out of their homes and play on open grounds. Sadly, many of our schools lack appropriate playgrounds and this comes as a hurdle as children cannot put into practice their hobbies for sports,” maintains Mukhtar, who plans to initiate awareness campaigns in schools. He also expresses his wish to start a Cricket Academy in North Goa to impart training to the youth. “I am looking out for land around Panaji,” he discloses.  

Suggesting parents to allow their children to play outside, and not sit indoors with mobiles or video games, Mukhtar opines that activating the brain with physical sports eventually leads to a healthy mind and body. Today’s children are glued to the television or mobile screens, which is hampering their natural growth, he laments. Nevertheless, he vows to change the scenario in the coming years, at least in Goa.  

Mukhtar who started his sports accessories store in Taleigao initially and shifted it to a bigger space at St Inez, mentions that he offers all the major brands – like Nike, Puma, Adidas, Nivea, SSTon, STige, Yonex, Sega, Cosco, SSS etc. Apart from swimwear and sportswear, the store also displays bags, water bottles, nets, yoga mats and play kits - cricket bats, badminton and TT rackets, carom and chessboards, footballs and a variety of other balls and various other games apart from trophies. ‘Sports Centre’ sells trophies in wholesale too. While most of these trophies come from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, which is the biggest manufacturing hub for handcrafted brass, bronze and steel trophies, Mukhtar mentions that Delhi and Kerala too supply trophies to him. Stating that China is the largest producer of trophies having a better finish and at a cheaper rate, this is because labour is cheap in China. Mukhtar also accepts orders for customised trophies, provided the customer places the order at least two months in advance.  

Agreeing that, in Goa, the demand for footballs and related sports accessories like shoes, socks, caps, trophies etc. surges at the onset of monsoon. Mukhtar observes that this shifts to cricket when the rains bid farewell. “Badminton and table tennis rackets are in demand post-monsoon, though the indoor games like chess and carom are in lesser demand compared to outdoor games,” he quips. Both, international as well as Indian brands have equal demand as far as sports accessories are concerned and the store has all of these on its shelves.  

Looking back at their family foray in the field of business, Mukhtar admits that they are the first generation entrepreneurs, with the initial business of computer accessories, which expanded into mobiles and now into sports goods. The Kadris who ventured into business dealing with computer hardware and software 11 years ago, now run a chain of computer and mobile accessories with 15 outlets across major cities in Goa, Panaji, Margao, Vasco, Mapusa, Porvorim and Ponda. Expanding into mobile accessories, and now sports accessories, the three brothers, Maqsood, Mukhtar and Muzaffar along with their father Manzoor Aslam Kadri Sayed run the show unitedly. Their gradual shift and expansion in other fields is the result of realising the need of the hour and tapping the opportunities at the right moment, putting in efforts and dedication, sticking to ethics and principles and catering to their customers adopting fair business practices.  

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